Delta-4
by BloodGulchBlue
Summary: Unit Delta-4 are sent to a Spectre plant when it stays dark. What will they find? Rated M for violence.


The drop pod howled through the atmosphere, its occupants firmly encased inside. The cramped conditions housed Squad Delta-4, IMC grunts sent to one of the many spectre manufacturing plants on the Frontier. The Militia were hitting them pretty hard; they were still recovering from the attack on Demeter. Due to the recent victory, the Militia forces were on the offensive in some sectors. The plant had gone offline a week ago, but the maintenance team with its small escort had only checked in when they touched down; they'd been dark since. So Delta unit was to be sent in, all ten squads forming 30 men in total. Their mission was to find out what had happened, and get the plant up and running.

The pod landed with a _thump_, the hatches opened, and Delta-4 poured out, carbines raised.

"Delta-4, this is Delta-1, move up to the left and hold your position at the entrance."

Delta-4 complied. IMC and Militia grunts laid dead on the grass, the scene of a recent battle. The squad continued, skirting around the wreckage of a crashed Goblin as they did so. Twisted metal laid everywhere, it was impossible to make out who was piloting it, the body was charred by fire. However, pilots of both factions could be seen in the passenger bay. Jax, the leader of Delta-4, led the others up to the entrance. More bodies were spread out here. The troops had fought; the entryway was a chokepoint. But it made no sense. The soldiers seemed to be firing in the same direction, not at each other. The bodies were heavily armed; mag launchers, sidewinders and a few charge rifles were found on grunts. Normally, they wouldn't be so heavily armed. So why were they? Curious, Jax led his squad forward

As they stepped over the bodies, new orders filtered through. "Delta-4, move to the armoury". A waypoint appeared on his HUD, so Jax tool point, walking for several minutes before stepping into the armoury. It was carnage. Doors to the weapons lockers had been ripped off, rifles bent into uselessness, ammunition strewn over the floor, Spitfires snapped. More bodies covered the floor. Jax bent down to examine it. The Pilot's neck had been snapped. This worried him. Pilots were the elite. It was nigh impossible to sneak up on one, let alone kill one in close quarters as a grunt. After reporting in his find, he led his squad back towards the entryway. There, a communications relay had been set up. Several civilian engineers stood around nervously. A Pilot walked up to him. Jax saluted.

"You there, lead these civvies to the power plant. Get the power back online. Delta-7 has gone missing." Delta-7 was the unit with training in repairs of Titans, and the most likely to be sent to fix any mechanical problem. Things kept on getting creepier.

Saluting again, Delta-4 moved through the eerily quiet corridors, the engineers quivering in the middle of the group. Doubt grew in Jax's mind. This was a spectre plant. So where were they? Even at IMC bases, spectres wandered the halls as security. But not here. They reached the power plant, but the doors were shut. There was no sign of Delta-7. Jax took out his data knife and began to hack the door controls, but to no avail. He could crack the codes, but the doors refused to open. One of the civilians suggested that the doors were welded shut. Deciding to use his initiative, he ordered his squadmates to place their satchel charges on the door, so that they could blow through it. They retreated to the minimum safe distance, before Jax activated the C-4. The explosion rang out, and Delta-4 moved forward as the smoke cleared. The first thing Jax noticed was that the central core was undamaged. The second thing was that a crowd of spectres was clustered around it. Their 'eyes' glowed a maleficent red. Both groups froze. Jax tried to radio in for help, but the signal was being jammed. Suddenly, the robots streamed towards them. The engineers turned and ran, but Delta-4 opened fire. However, three carbines verses an army of spectres was a hopeless stand. The squad slowly retreated, reloading with shaking hands, before turning and sprinting towards the entryway. One civilian tripped, and as Delta-4 moved around him, he let out a horrifying scream as the spectres caught up with him. Jax turned for a split second, seeing blood spray, painting the nearby spectres. Another robot leapt down from a gantry, hitting a second engineer full on, before straddling her and snapping the woman's neck- exactly the same death as the Pilot in the armoury.

Jax tried his radio again, getting some signal, but still mainly static. The spectres were gaining ground, forcing the grunts to run faster. Brad, not as fit as his colleagues in Delta-4, doubled over, slowing to a stop. His gaze pleaded with his squadmates, asking for some help. When none came, he turned and raised his rifle, opening fire as the tide overwhelmed him. Seconds later, Jax was hit in the back by something, causing him to fall. He turned it into a roll to regain momentum, but caught a glimpse of an amputated arm, clutching a carbine. As they neared the entrance, Jax noticed that the other members of Delta Unit were fighting waves of spectres. The Pilot who had sent them to the power grid noticed them, turned and threw something towards them. The grenade sailed through the air landing short of the horde. By averting his gaze, the pilot missed the lunging spectre, which punched through his armour and body. The grenade exploded, the shockwave sending Delta-4 flying. Shrapnel thudded into Jax's armour, which saved him from the worst. The civilian was not so lucky. Unable to walk with metal embedded in his leg, Delta-4 left him, running to through the entryway and towards the DLZ.

A lone Gremlin was there, the one which had transported the Pilot and engineers to the plant. Jax took the pilot's seat, whilst Jeff stood firing out the ramp at the silver swarm closed the gap. Jax sent the Gremlin rumbling off, building up speed. Jeff, unsecured, was swept off his feet as the acceleration took him by surprise. Closing the ramp, Jax headed for the ship in the lower atmosphere.

Once inside, he was escorted by a spectre security patrol to Spyglass, who filled him in on the finer details. Militia forces had attempted to take the plant. The IMC troops there had activated uncompleted spectres to assist them, but without full programming, they turned on their allies. Both sides had attempted to destroy them but were overwhelmed.

Jax nodded, then had a double take. He hadn't seen a single person when being taken to Spyglass. True, all the troops were sent down, but there should've been crew. As sickly realisation dawned on him, he watched as the photoreceptors of the Spectres on board turned from blue to red. The last thing he thought was about how why he was unable to radio for help. The virus was being transmitted, blocking his communications…


End file.
